Messaging-enabled travel integration processing

ABSTRACT

A user engages in spoken voice or messaging platform-based natural language dialogues with an automated bot. The bot identifies actions and subjects of the actions from the dialogues and processes Application Programming Interfaces (API) to perform travel-related queries or process travel-related transactions with travel services. Real-time responses to queries or completed transaction notifications are provided back to the user by the bot during the dialogues.

BACKGROUND

Businesses provide their own service-based online interfaces andmobile-based applications for purposes of making their customer-basedservices available to customers from devices operated by the customers,such devices can include: tablets, mobile phones, laptops, etc.

Furthermore, businesses integrate and provide their services tocustomers through existing messaging platforms, such as email, textmessaging, instant messaging, social media, browsers, etc.

Essentially, businesses want to have a presence and be accessible tocustomers on any customer-operated device at any time and within anydesired platform most-often utilized by their customers. This maximizescustomer participation in the business services, increases customerloyalty with the brands of the businesses, increases business revenues,and reduces business expense associated with providing human-basedassistance to the customers.

However, customers are being inundated with mobile applications all ofwhich have their-own proprietary interfaces. These applications cluttera customer's mobile device and often times the customer is unaware thatthey have a specific-business's mobile application on his/her devicewhen it is needed. Customers are also unlikely to be able tosuccessfully navigate the mobile application's interface and/or rememberlogon credentials when the customers need the services of theapplication even when they find the appropriately installed applicationon their devices.

These problems are exacerbated when time is of the essence to acustomer, such as within a travel context. For example, a typicalairline traveler is often required to remember a variety oftravel-related information, such as flight number, seat number, boardingtime, gate number, departure time, arrival time, connecting flightdetails, and the like. Printed boarding passes are being phased out inthe industry and even when a printed boarding pass is obtained by thetraveler, the traveler has to remember where the customer put it to viewit, since the traveler is managing carry-on baggage, photoidentification, the airport security gates, departure gates, and luggagewhile the traveler is experiencing stress as a result of the travelenvironment. Still further, obtaining a printed boarding pass at theairport may entail waiting in long lines at kiosks or at clerkassistance terminals, neither of which is appealing to any traveler.

Consequently, even with all the available technology many travelersstill struggle with airport travel and travelers consistently list, inconsumer surveys, that travel is one of the most frustrating, stressful,and generally problematic experiences faced by travelers.

SUMMARY

In various embodiments, methods and a system for messaging-enabledtravel integration processing are presented.

According to an embodiment, a method for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing is provided. Specifically, and in one embodiment,a natural-language input provided by a user is received. A subject andan action are identified from the natural-language input. The action isprocessed with a service that is identified based on the subject.Finally, natural-language results are provided back to the user based onresults returned from the service.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram of a system for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 1B is a diagram of an architectural layout for messaging-enabledtravel integration processing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 1C is a diagram of another architectural layout formessaging-enabled travel integration processing, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method for messaging-enabled travel integrationprocessing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of another method for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another system for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing, according to an example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A is a diagram of a system 100 for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing, according to an example embodiment. The system100 is shown schematically in greatly simplified form, with only thosecomponents relevant to understanding of one or more embodiments(represented herein) being illustrated. The various components areillustrated and the arrangement of the components is presented forpurposes of illustration only. It is to be noted that other arrangementswith more or less components are possible without departing from themessaging-enabled travel integration processing techniques presentedherein and below.

Moreover, various components are implemented as one or more softwaremodules, which reside in non-transitory storage and/or hardware memoryas executable instructions that when executed by one or more hardwareprocessors perform the processing discussed herein and below.

The techniques, methods, and systems presented herein and below formessaging-enabled travel integration processing can be implemented inall, or some combination of the components shown in one or more hardwarecomputing devices having one or more hardware processors.

The system 100 includes: a messaging-enabled chat bot 110, a botconnector 120, one or more messaging platforms 140 (each messagingplatform 140 have a platform-specific messaging bot 141), and one ormore travel-related services 130 (each travel-related service 130include one or more travel-related Application Programming Interfaces(APIs).

The messaging-enabled chat bot 110 can be processed on anyprocessor-enabled device, such as but not limited to: a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a tablet, a wearableprocessing device (watch, goggles, etc.), a processor-enabled vehicleinterface within a vehicle, an intelligent appliance (light switch,lamp, garage door opener, refrigerator, television, stereo, etc.), aserver, etc.

As used herein, a “messaging platform” refers to the software,interfaces, APIs, processing devices, and network connectivity used toperform messaging communications by users. A messaging platformincludes, by way of example only, email, Short Message Service (SMS)text, instant message, and social-media applications (e.g., Facebook™,Slack™, Twitter™, Instagram™, Snap Chat™, LinkedIn™, etc.).

As used herein, a “messaging bot” or “bot” refers to a softwareapplication that is designed to engage in messaging activities in anautomated manner as an active or passive participant within themessaging platforms. A messaging bot 141 is a logical participant in agiven chat session (messaging session or dialogue) for any givenmessaging platform. Moreover, a messaging bot 141 is configured toperform a variety of pre-configured automated actions within messagingplatforms and/or outside the messaging platforms for interaction withthe bot connector 120.

The messaging-enabled chat bot 110 (hereinafter just “chat bot 110)includes a front-end user facing interface that translates naturallanguage speech (spoken audio) received as input through a microphoneinto text strings representing at least a subject of an action and theaction (may also be referred to herein as “use case action”). Thesubject and the action are processed by a back-end interface of the chatbot 110 to obtain a response based on the natural language speechreceived as input from the front-end user facing interface. The back-endinterface of the chat bot 110 can interact with the bot connector 120and one or more online travel services 130 through the travel APIs 131.

The bot connector 120 translates between individual messaging bots 141operating in specific messaging platforms 140 and the chat bot 110 forautomated interaction between the chat bot 110 and the messagingplatforms 140.

It is to be noted, that the front-end interface of the chat bot 110 canbe executed on a user-operated device while the back-end interface ofthe chat bot 110 can be executed on a server device. In an embodiment,both the front-end interface and the back-end interface of the chat bot110 are executed on: the user-operated device or on the server. In anembodiment, only a portion of the front-end interface is executed on theuser-operated device to relay all input audio or partially translatedaudio to another portion of the front-end interface that executes on theserver that completes the audio-to-text translation for any untranslatedaudio remaining. In fact, for efficiencies reasons the front-end andback-end interfaces of the chat bot 110 can execute on multiple devicesor a same device.

The chat bot 110 also includes a text-based interface that is responsiveto text-messages provided as input from the user, such that the chat bot110 is responsive to user queries and user transaction requests throughboth audio and text (through the text-based interface).

The chat bot 110 is activated/initiated for processing on auser-operated device through a number of manners, such as and by way ofexample only, selection of a mobile application, a voice commanduniquely known to the chat bot, selection of an option within auser-facing interface of a mobile application, a voice command given toan existing voice-enabled service of the user-operated device (forexample, Siri®, Alexa®, Echo®, Google Home® where the chat bot 110 isactivated within one of these existing voice-enabled services as anenhanced skill for these services). In an embodiment, the chat bot 110is automatically activated when the user-operated device is detected ashaving a current physical location that is at or within a configuredgeographic distance from an airport, bus station, train station, and/orsubway station.

In an embodiment, a text message sent to an account of the chat bot 110activates the chat bot; here the initial text message can include anatural language text query or transaction instruction provided by theuser through a text message.

In an embodiment, an instant message sent to one of the messaging bots141 in natural language causes the message bot 141 upon receipt of thenatural language text query or transaction instruction to provide suchinformation to the bot connector 120, and the bot connector 120activates the chat bot 110 with the initial provided user query or textinstruction.

So, the chat bot 110 can be activated and initiated for a dialogue(session) with a user through spoken audio, through spoken audio withinan existing voice-enabled service of the user-operated device, through atext message, or through a social media instant message.

The dialogue (session) between the user and the chat bot 110 can bevoice-based, text based, or instant messaging based. The user can switchduring a same dialogue or session between different types (such aschange from voice to text, change from instant messaging to voice,etc.). This can be done with an instruction in the original dialoguetype (voice, text, instant message), which then causes the chat bot 110to use the instructed dialogue type for the remainder of the dialogue(session).

Once activated for a voice dialogue, the chat bot 110 listens forreceived audio provided by a microphone of the user-operated device. Theaudio is translated into text and natural language processing isperformed on the text to identify the subject and actions received inthe spoken audio recorded, captured, and provided by the microphone. Ifthe chat bot 110 is confused about the subject or the action, thenclarifying speech based audio output is sent to the speakers of theuser-operated device to engage the user in a dialogue to correctlyidentify the subject and the needed action/use case that the chat bot110 is being requested to perform.

Once activated for text or instant message dialogues, the chat bot 110receives text-based natural language queries or transaction instructionsand parses the text to identify the subject and action. Again,clarifying output can be sent back to the user through text or instantmessage for purposes of the chat bot 110 accurately identifying thesubject and action for the user dialogue (session). Any instantmessaging-based dialogues entail interactions between the chat bot 110,the bot connector 120, and the messaging bot 141.

The actions processed by the chat bot 110 can include performing querieson behalf of the user for purposes of providing back to the user any ofthe following information (by way of example only) as a result (ananswer) of the queries: flight time, flight number, seat assignment,gate number, boarding time, connecting flight details, and departuretime.

Actions can also include performing transactions on behalf of the user,such as (by way of example only): booking a flight, upgrading orchanging an existing seat assignment, and checking in for a flight toobtain a boarding pass for the flight.

It is noted that these actions can be any travel-related query thatreturns answers representing the results of those queries ortravel-related transactions. Travel-related includes air, train, ship,subway, bus, car rental, Uber®, Lyft®, cab, and/or lodging.

The subject and the action are processed to identify what entity orentities that the chat bot 110 needs to engage to provide a user answerto a query or perform a user travel transaction. For example, an inputto a start of a dialogue provided by the user through voice, text, orinstant message may be “what time is my flight to ATL?” (ATL anabbreviation for Atlanta International Airport.) The subject is AtlantaInternational Airport and the action or use case (the answer outputexpected by the user) is time of the flight. If the bot 110 does nothave access to a user's airline loyalty account, then the bot 110 mayneed clarification and may ask the user “what airline or what is yourreservation number?” Once the bot 110 has sufficient information, thebot 110 uses an API 131 to contact a travel service 130 with thecustomer's last name and/or reservation number to query that travelservice 130 on behalf of the user, results are returned from the API 131and the bot 110 translates the results into natural language speech,text, or instant message and provides as output to the user, such as“your flight leaves at 8:00 am out of Terminal A gate 60.”

The bot 110 can be configured by the user for linking services of theuser for automated access by the bot 110, such that the user can grantaccess to travel-related loyalty services 130 and/or a user's digitalwallet (such as Apple Wallet®). Linking may entail the user granting thebot 110 access to the user's account (via user id and credential) to themobile application and/or website for each of the user's travelservices. This can permit the bot 110 to use an appropriate API 131 toquery these services 130, such that in some embodiments, the bot 110needs no clarifying information from the user to satisfy a user's query.For example, if the user already obtained a boarding pass, the boardingpass would be accessible from the user's wallet and/or from the user'sairline mobile application (such that the bot can obtain the neededinformation and perform the action (query) on the wallet on theuser-operated device (on device). However, even without such linking,clarifying information (such as the reservation number) can be processedby the bot 110 to access non-account based travel services 130 to locatean answer to the queries through the API 131 (off device external to theuser-operated device). It is also noted that the wallet can includeother itinerary information for a journey of the user, such as a hotelcheck-in, rental car information, etc.

Again, the bot connector 120 permits a bridging interface between thebot 110 and other messaging platforms, such as email, SMS text, andsocial media instant message interfaces.

In some cases, the action identified in the dialogue by the bot 110 canbe a series of actions, associated with multiple services includingtravel services 130, on device services (user wallet-based application),and messaging platform services.

The system 100 through the bot 110, the bot connector 120, the travelAPIs 131, and the messaging bots 141 permits real-time dialogues with auser in spoken audio, SMS text messages, and/or instant messagingthrough messaging platforms for purposes of performing and answeringspecific travel-related queries of the user and/or performingtravel-related transactions on behalf of the user. The dialogues areinteractive between the bot 110 and the user and may or may not includeclarifying questions submitted by the bot 110 back to the user forpurposes of properly identifying the subjects and actions that the useris requesting from the bot 110 during the dialogue. The system 100 doesnot require the user to remember any specific travel-related applicationto obtain answers or perform travel-related transactions, the bot 110provides the integration for all travel-related activities needed by theuser during a user's journey (travel).

FIG. 1B is a diagram of an architectural layout for messaging-enabledtravel integration processing, according to an example embodiment.

The layout shows the bot 110 having a bilateral communication connectionto the bot connector 120. The bot connector 120 then interfaces withspecific messaging platforms 140 through automated bots 141 (shown asSlack® and Facebook® in the FIG. 1B) and the bot connector 120interactions with APIs 131 associated with travel services 130 and APIsassociated with other messaging services (such as SMS text—shown in theFIG. 1B as the Direct Line API, SMS Messenger Connector API, andMessaging Center). The user can connect for a dialogue through any ofthe messaging platforms 140 (such as through Slack®, Facebook®, and/orSMS text messaging).

As noted above with the discussion of the FIG. 1A the user may directlyconnect through spoken audio to the bot 110 as well.

FIG. 1C is a diagram of another architectural layout formessaging-enabled travel integration processing, according to an exampleembodiment.

The FIG. 1C illustrates an architectural layout for a user thatinitiates a dialogue or session with the bot 120 through a messagingplatform (social media instant messaging and/or SMS text messaging). Thedialogue is a session or conversation in natural language between theuser and the bot 110 interacting through the messaging platforminterface. At the bottom of the FIG. 1C, sample conversations arepresented with questions or instructions provided by the user designatedas “U” and the responses from the bot designated as “B.” A message bot141 associated with the message platform 140 provides the information tothe bot connector 120, which translates and provides to the bot 110. Thesession data identifies the intent of the user as the use case or actionand the subject as location. The bot 120 interacts with an itinerarymashup service that directly interacts with travel services 130(identified as FindReservation Service, LocationToAirportCode Service,DateToVaildFlightDate Service, and SeatMap Service in the FIG. 1C).

In this manner an intermediary service, such as the itinerary mashupservice can provide a single interface to the bot 110 for interaction,such that the bot 110 is focused on making the appropriate queries andthe itinerary mashup service selects the appropriate service 130 andneeded API 131 for performing the query on behalf of the bot. Thisarchitectural layout provides a more modular implementation of thesystem 100.

It is also noted that the architectural layout of the FIG. 1C mayinclude an implementation or instantiation of the bot 110 withinspecific messaging platform 140 as an enhanced bot 141, such that no botconnector 120 is necessary. That is, an instance of the bot 110 isprovided as a specific messaging platform bot 141.

In an embodiment, the user-operated device is one of: a mobile phone, atablet, a laptop, a desktop computer, a wearable processing device, anetwork and voice-enabled Internet-of-Things (IoTs) device (such asAmazon® Echo®, Google® Home®, etc.).

One now appreciates how voice-enabled travel integration processing andmessaging-enabled travel integration processing are achieved through thesystem 100 and/or the architectural layouts of the system 100 aspresented in the FIGS. 1A-1C. This provides a user real-time travelanswers and travel-related transaction processing through messagingplatforms preferred by the user and/or through spoken audio interaction.

The embodiments of FIGS. 1A-1C and other embodiments are now discussedwith reference to the FIGS. 2-4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a method 200 for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing, according to an example embodiment. The softwaremodule(s) that implements the method 200 is referred to as a “travelintegration bot.” The travel integration bot is implemented asexecutable instructions programmed and residing within memory and/or anon-transitory computer-readable (processor-readable) storage medium andexecuted by one or more hardware processors of one or more hardwarecomputing devices. The processors of the devices that execute the travelintegration bot are specifically configured and programmed to processthe travel integration bot. The travel integration bot has access to oneor more networks during its processing. The networks can be wired,wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the secure messaging paymentmanager is a user operated device, a server device, or a set of devicesthat process in a cloud processing environment.

In an embodiment, different portions of the travel integration botexecute on different devices. For example, a user-facing interface mayat least partially process on a user operated device while a back-endinterface of the travel integration bot processes on cloud serverdevices.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the travel integration bot isa server.

In an embodiment, the travel integration bot is some combination of orall of: the bot 110 and/or the bot connector 120.

At 210, the travel integration bot receives natural language inputprovided by a user. The natural language input is either spoken audio(speech of a human communication language) or written humancommunication language. In some embodiments, abbreviated written humancommunication language and/or acronyms that are common to a specificmessaging platform (such as text or instant messaging acronyms) can beincluded in the natural-language input. The travel integration botinitiates a dialogue that includes natural-language conversations withthe user in response to receipt of the natural-language input providedby the user.

In an embodiment, at 211, the travel integration bot receives thenatural-language input as spoken audio (speech) that is spoken by theuser into a microphone and provided to the travel integration bot.

In an embodiment, at 212, the travel integration bot receives thenatural-language input as a text message sent by the user to the travelintegration bot (through a text messaging platform and directed to anaccount, contact, or number associated with the travel integration botby the user).

In an embodiment, at 213, the travel integration bot receives thenatural-language input as an instant message sent by the user within asocial media platform, such as and by way of example only Facebook®Messenger® or Slack® instant messages.

At 220, the travel integration bot identifies a subject and an actionfrom the natural-language input. That is, the travel integration bottranslates speech received from audio to text if the natural-languageinput is spoken audio. The text (translated from audio or provided intext or instant messages) is then parsed using grammars to identifyparts of the input and specifically to identify a subject and an action.Again, the travel integration bot can engage the user in interactiveconversations during the dialogue to clarify the input for properlyidentifying the subject and the action from the input (as was discussedabove). Existing speech and natural language processing services can beused for analyzing the natural-language input and identify the subjectand the action.

In an embodiment, at 221, the travel integration bot identifies theaction as a travel-related query associated with travel of the user.Such queries can include by way of example only, flight arrival times,flight departure times, connecting flight times, seat assignments, andflight check-in information.

In an embodiment, at 222, the travel integration bot identifies theaction as a travel-related transaction associated with the user. Suchtravel-related transactions can include by way of example only, changingseat assignments, upgrading seats, rescheduling a flight, booking aflight, purchasing in-flight goods or services, and other transactions.

At 230, the travel integration bot processes the action with a servicethat is identified based on the subject of the natural language input.That is, the subject provides an indication as to what type of serviceis needed for processing the action.

In an embodiment, at 231, the travel integration bot processes theaction utilizing an API provided by the service. In an embodiment, theAPI is API 131 and the service is the travel service 130.

In an embodiment, at 232, the travel integration bot locates travelinformation associated with the service within a digital device on auser-operated device and processes the action by parsing the travelinformation to obtain results.

At 240, the travel integration bot provides natural-language resultsback to the user based on results returned from the service afterprocessing the action by the service (or after parsing the digitalwallet as discussed in the embodiment of 232).

In an embodiment, at 241, the travel integration bot provides thenatural-language results as spoken audio to the user (humancommunication language speech).

In an embodiment, at 242, the travel integration bot provides thenatural-language results as a SMS text message (human writtencommunication language text) to a user-operated device.

In an embodiment, at 243, the travel integration bot provides thenatural-language results as an instant message (human writtencommunication language text) to an account of the user associated with asocial media messaging platform.

According to an embodiment, at 250, the travel integration bot interactswith the user in a dialogue using natural-language conversations whenprocessing 210-243. This is interactive conversations between the userand the travel integration bot in a human communication language.

In an embodiment, the travel integration bot is configured to identifythe human communication language based on the natural-language inputinitially provided by the user at 210 to initiate the dialogue betweenthe travel integration bot and the user.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of another method 300 for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing, according to an example embodiment. The softwaremodule(s) that implements the method 300 is referred to as a “travelassistant.” The travel assistant is implemented as executableinstructions programmed and residing within memory and/or anon-transitory computer-readable (processor-readable) storage medium andexecuted by one or more hardware processors of one or more hardwaredevices. The processors of the devices that execute the travel assistantare specifically configured and programmed to process the travelassistant. The travel assistant has access to one or more networksduring its processing. The networks can be wired, wireless, or acombination of wired and wireless.

The travel assistant presents another and in some ways enhancedperspective of the method 200.

In an embodiment, the travel assistant is some combination of or all of:the bot 110, the bot connector 120, and/or the method 200.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the travel assistant is asingle user-operated device.

In an embodiment, the device that executes the travel assistant is asingle server device or set of server devices operating as a cloudserver.

In an embodiment, the travel assistant executes on a plurality ofdevices, such as a user-operated device and a cloud server.

At 310, the travel assistant interacts in real time with a user in anatural-language dialogue (session).

In an embodiment, at 311, the travel assistant interacts with the userthrough a natural-language medium that includes one of: spoken audio,text messages, and instant messages associated with a social mediamessaging platform.

In an embodiment of 311 and at 312, the travel assistant switchesbetween an original user-selected natural-language medium to a differentuser-directed natural-language medium during the natural-languagedialogue. This may be particularly useful to the use when the dialogueis initiated in spoken audio and the environment of the user becomesnoisy and the user desires to switch to text messages.

In an embodiment, at 313, the travel assistant indirectly interacts withthe user through a bot connector (such as bot connector 120). The useris directly engaged in the natural-language dialogue through instantmessages provided in a social media or text messaging platform with amessaging bot. The messaging bot communicates with the bot connector,and the bot connector communicates with the travel assistant.

At 320, the travel assistant identifies an action requested by the userduring the natural-language dialogue by analyzing the natural languagehuman communication language provided by the user during the dialogue toidentify what the user is requesting of the travel assistant.

At 330, the travel assistant processes the action to obtain results witha travel-related service (travel-related is defined above with thediscussion of the FIGS. 1A-1C).

In an embodiment, at 331, the travel assistant processes the action as aquery for travel-related information associated with travel (a journey)of the user.

In an embodiment, at 332, the travel assistant processes the action as atravel transactions associated with travel (a journey) of the user.

At 340, the travel assistant communicates results from processing theaction during the natural-language dialogue to the user in real time.The results are communicated in the user's human communication language(spoken or written) over a user-selected natural-language communicationmedium (audio (through speakers of a user-operated device), SMS text(through a text account of the user), or instant messaging (through asocial media account associated with a messaging platform of the user).

FIG. 4 is a diagram of another system 400 for messaging-enabled travelintegration processing, according to an example embodiment. The system400 includes a variety of hardware components and software components.The software components of the system 400 are programmed and residewithin memory and/or a non-transitory computer-readable medium andexecute on one or more hardware processors of a hardware device. Thesystem 400 communicates one or more networks, which can be wired,wireless, or a combination of wired and wireless.

In an embodiment, the system 400 implements all or some combination ofthe processing discussed above with the FIGS. 1A-1C and 2-3.

In an embodiment, the system 400 implements, inter alia, the method 200of the FIG. 2.

In an embodiment, the system 400 implements, inter alia, the method 300of the FIG. 3.

The system 400 includes a server 401 and the server including a travelassistant bot 402.

The travel assistant bot 402 is implemented as executable instructionsthat are executed by multiple hardware processors of multiple computingdevices from non-transitory computer-readable storage media.

In an embodiment, the travel assistant bot 402 is all or somecombination of the bot 110, the bot connector 120, the method 200,and/or the method 300.

The travel assistant bot 402 is configured to: 1) execute, at least inpart, on at least one hardware processor of the server 401; 2) engage auser in natural-language conversations during a dialogue; 3) identify anaction to process from at least one of the natural-languageconversations; 4) process the actions with a travel-related service; 5)obtain results from the action from the travel-related service; and 6)provide the results in a particular one of the natural-languageconversations during the dialogue.

The travel assistant bot 402 is further configured to engage the user inthe natural-language conversations through natural-language mediums thatinclude: spoken audio, text messages, and instant messages associatedwith one or more social media messaging platforms.

It should be appreciated that where software is described in aparticular form (such as a component or module) this is merely to aidunderstanding and is not intended to limit how software that implementsthose functions may be architected or structured. For example, modulesare illustrated as separate modules, but may be implemented ashomogenous code, as individual components, some, but not all of thesemodules may be combined, or the functions may be implemented in softwarestructured in any other convenient manner.

Furthermore, although the software modules are illustrated as executingon one piece of hardware, the software may be distributed over multipleprocessors or in any other convenient manner.

The above description is illustrative, and not restrictive. Many otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description. The scope of embodiments should therefore bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

In the foregoing description of the embodiments, various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting that the claimed embodiments have more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Description of the Embodiments, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate exemplary embodiment.

1. A method, comprising: receiving a natural-language input provided bya user; identifying a subject and an action from the natural-languageinput; processing the action with a service that is identified based onthe subject; and providing natural-language results to the user based onresults returned from the service.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinreceiving further includes receiving the natural-language input asspoken audio that is spoken by the user.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein receiving further includes receiving the natural-language inputas a text message sent by the user to the method.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein receiving further includes receiving the natural-languageinput as an instant message sent by the user within a messagingplatform.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying further includesidentifying the action as a travel-related query associated with travelof the user.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying furtherincludes identifying the action as a travel-related transactionassociated with travel of the user.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinprocessing further includes processing the action utilizing anApplication Programming Interface provided by the service.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein processing further includes locating travelinformation associated with the service within a digital wallet on auser-operated device and processing the action by parsing the travelinformation to obtain the results.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinproviding further includes providing the natural-language results asspoken audio to the user.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein providingfurther includes providing the natural-language results as a textmessage to a user-operated device.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereinproviding further includes providing the natural-language results as aninstant message to an account of the user associated with a messagingplatform.
 12. The method of claim 1 further comprising, interacting withthe user in a dialogue using natural language conversations whenprocessing the method.
 13. A method, comprising: interacting with a userin a natural-language dialogue; identifying an action requested by theuser during the natural-language dialogue; processing the action toobtain results with a travel-related service; and communicating theresults during the natural-language dialogue.
 14. The method of claim13, wherein interacting further includes interacting with the userthrough a natural language medium that includes one of: spoken audio,text messages, and instant messages associated with a messagingplatform.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein interacting furtherincludes switching between an original user-selected natural languagemedium to a different user-directed natural language medium during thenatural-language dialogue.
 16. The method of claim 13, whereininteracting further includes indirectly interacting with the userthrough a bot connector, wherein the user is directly engaged in thenatural-language dialogue through instant messages provided in amessaging platform with a messaging bot, the messaging bot communicatingwith the bot connector, and the bot connector communicating with themethod.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein processing further includesprocessing the action as a query for travel-related informationassociated with travel of the user.
 18. The method of claim 13, whereinprocessing further includes processing the action as a traveltransaction associated with travel of the user.
 19. A system (SST),comprising: a server configured to execute executable instructions on atleast one hardware processor representing at least a portion of a travelassistant bot, the executable instructions residing in a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium; and the travel assistant botconfigured to: engage a user in natural-language conversations during adialogue; identify an action to process from at least one of thenatural-language conversations; process the actions with atravel-related service; obtain results from the action from thetravel-related service; and provide the results in a particular one ofthe natural-language conversations during the dialogue.
 20. The systemof claim 19, wherein the travel assistant bot is further configured to:engage in the natural-language conversations through natural-languagemediums that include: spoken audio, text messages, and instant messagesassociated with one or more messaging platforms.